Award recognizes 132 companies spanning 21 countries and five continents that embrace the correlation between ethical business practices, public trust and improved company performance

NEW YORK - Monday, March 9th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Ethisphere Institute, the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, today announced the 2015 World’s Most Ethical Companies®. The latest list includes 132 companies representing more than 50 industries spanning 21 countries and five continents.

The World’s Most Ethical Companies is a distinction that honors superior achievement in transparency, integrity, ethics and compliance. Honorees use ethics as a means to further define their industry leadership and embrace the connection by embedding their corporate values into everything they do, every employee they hire, and every partner they bring into their network to ensure they deliver long-term value to key stakeholders including customers, suppliers, regulators, and investors.

“Companies today are challenged by a complex and often conflicting set of laws and regulations around the world, yet despite the lack of a global rule of law there’s a growing commonality about how to do business the right way,” explained Ethisphere’s Chief Executive Officer Timothy Erblich. “More and more, we’re finding that stakeholders from employees and customers to executives and investors understand that ethical leadership drives outcomes ranging from operational performance to corporate integrity, transparency, and workforce behavior. We’re delighted to honor these companies who not only understand the various components of what makes a company ethical but are dedicated to building an environment that makes it so.”

“This award celebrates doing business the right way and making the right choices every day,” said Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, the only automaker to receive the Ethisphere honor for six consecutive years. “Ethical behavior and good corporate citizenship are not just the right things to do, they also make good business sense.”

“U.S. Bank is very honored to be recognized as a World’s Most Ethical Company,” said Richard Davis, chairman, president, and chief executive officer for U.S. Bank. “I am especially proud of our 67,000 employees who personally reflect a high standard of ethics and integrity every day. As a financial institution, the trusted relationship that we have with our customers represents the foundation upon which we operate. Acting ethically and bringing our core values to life in every customer interaction is how we earn and keep that trust.”

“I am very proud that Iberdrola has been honored as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for a second year,” said Iberdrola Chairman Ignacio S. Galán. “This is a great recognition for all the professionals who work in our Group following the highest ethical standards that are reflected in the values and vision of our company. I am deeply convinced that ethics is a necessary path to business excellence and that working with integrity and transparency increases our value as a company and reinforces trust among all our stakeholders.”

“Ethics and integrity are deeply rooted and ingrained in our culture,” said Keith D. Nosbusch, Rockwell Automation chairman and CEO. “I’m proud of our employees who consistently do the right things, the right way, every day. They differentiate our company, giving us a competitive advantage.”

“Spectra Energy is honored to again be named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies,” said Greg Ebel, president and chief executive officer, Spectra Energy. “Our culture of compliance is at the core of who we are. This recognition is a testament to our employees, who make the right choices every day to ensure our company operates with the highest level of integrity.”

The 2015 list includes 15 nine-time honorees and 11 first-time honorees and marks the first-time appearance of a company based in Colombia. Among others, the list includes: Accenture, GE, Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano, Google Inc., Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), The Hershey Company, illycaffè spa, Kao Corporation, Marks and Spencer, Milliken & Company, National Australia Bank, Natura Cosméticos, PepsiCo, SingTel, The Rezidor Hotel Group, Voya Financial, and Wipro Limited.

The full list of the 2015 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at http://ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/wme-honorees/.

The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient™ (EQ) framework developed over years of research to provide a means to assess an organization’s performance in an objective, consistent, and standardized way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies, rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance, and ethics. The EQ framework and methodology is determined, vetted, and refined by the expert advice and insights gleaned from Ethisphere’s network of thought leaders and from the World’s Most Ethical Company Methodology Advisory Panel.

Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20%), culture of ethics (20%), governance (15%) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10%).

Senior executives of honorees contribute high-level insights and best practices to the well-regarded World’s Most Ethical Companies Executive Briefing (download Volume 2 here). Additional insights gleaned from the World’s Most Ethical Companies will be released in a series of whitepapers and infographics over the coming months (download the 2014 Insights).

About the Ethisphere Institute

The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust, and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies® recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with the publication of Ethisphere Magazine and The World’s Most Ethical Companies Executive Briefing. Ethisphere is also the leading provider of independent verification of corporate ethics and compliance programs. More information about Ethisphere can be found at: http://ethisphere.com.

Contacts

The Ethisphere Institute

Clea Nabozny, 480-397-2658

Clea.Nabozny@ethisphere.com

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